Three games are on tap tonight. The Boston Bruins will have a little banner raising at the building formerly known as Fleet Center at 6 p.m. when they host Jaromir Jagr and the Philadelphia Flyers. At 6 p.m. also, Minnetonka's Jake Gardiner will make his NHL debut at home when the Toronto Maple Leafs host rival Montreal. And at 9 p.m. on Versus, the Sidney Crosby, Nick Johnson-less Pittsburgh Penguins visit the Vancouver Canuckleheads, minus injured Ryan Kesler.

Kent Youngblood will be covering the Wild's practice today as I work ahead on some stories, so he may be on later to blog if there's news and notes from the X.

Here is some preview stuff from the NHL, including new rules you may find helpful on the bottom:

NEW DEPARTMENT OF PLAYER SAFETY At the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced the establishment of a new Department of Player Safety to be headed by Senior Vice President of Player Safety and Hockey Operations Brendan Shanahan. It will monitor all NHL games from its video room in New York focusing solely upon player safety and specifically upon those incidents that might require supplemental discipline.

MISSION STATEMENT “We are committed to making the game as safe as possible for our players while preserving the intensely competitive and passionate nature of hockey.”

MANDATE 1. Work with GMs, the Competition Committee and the NHLPA to continue to look at rules that can better protect our players. 2. Focus on safety issues related to players’ equipment and the playing environment. 3. Responsible for administering supplemental player discipline.

APPROACH The Department of Player Safety will monitor all NHL games from its video room in New York focusing solely upon player safety and specifically upon those incidents that might require supplemental discipline. It will impose suspensions that will not only serve as an effective deterrent but, combined with improved communication and education, result in the desired effect of changing player behavior.

CURVED ACRYLIC SYSTEM The new Curved Acrylic System is being installed in all 30 NHL rinks. The system uses a curved piece of acrylic in combination with movable posts to protect the player from blunt force trauma. The curved acrylic prevents the sudden stop of the player by deflecting him, and the movable posts help to absorb the energy from the hit.

The original concept was developed by Vancouver Canucks Sports & Entertainment in March 2011 and presented to the League. The design was evaluated, modified by the League's engineers and adopted by the League for installation in all 30 arenas for the 2011-12 regular season.

ACRYLIC SHIELDING IN ALL RINKS For the 2011-12 season, the League has required that all seamless glass systems be converted to the more flexible acrylic systems. The weight of acrylic panels is less than half of the seamless panels.

CONCUSSION EVALUATION AND MANAGEMENT PROTOCOL In January, 2010, the NHL became the first professional sports league to adopt a League-wide Concussion Evaluation and Management Protocol. The Protocol has been revised several times since its adoption. In March, 2011, the NHL became the first pro sports league to adopt a mandatory protocol calling for removal of a player from a game for medical evaluation.

The current NHL Concussion Evaluation and Management Protocol:

Pursuant to the League-wide Concussion Protocol, any player who displays one or more of the determined signs of concussion, or who reports one or more of the determined concussion symptoms (either on-ice or at any subsequent time), shall be removed as soon as possible from the playing environment by the Team Athletic Trainer. The player shall then be evaluated by the Team Athletic Trainer or the Team Physician in a distraction-free environment using a comprehensive standardized acute concussion assessment tool. The Team Physician shall make the determination whether the player is diagnosed with a concussion. If, after the evaluation noted above, the Team Physician determines that the player is not diagnosed with a concussion, the player may return to play. In rare circumstances, it may be appropriate for the Team Physician to return a player diagnosed with a concussion to play in the same game if he has complete recovery of symptoms and is judged by the Team Physician to have returned to his neuro-cognitive baseline.

REVISED PLAYING RULES

Rule 41- Boarding 41.1 Boarding - A boarding penalty shall be imposed on any player who checks or pushes a defenseless opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to hit or impact the boards violently or dangerously. The severity of the penalty, based upon the impact with the boards, shall be at the discretion of the Referee.

There is an enormous amount of judgment involved in the application of this rule by the referees. The onus is on the player applying the check to ensure his opponent is not in a defenseless position and if so, he must avoid or minimize contact. However, in determining whether such contact could have been avoided, the circumstances of the check, including whether the opponent put himself in vulnerable position immediately prior to or simultaneously with the check or whether the check was unavoidable can be considered. This balance must be considered by the referees when applying this rule.

Any unnecessary contact with a player playing the puck on an obvious "icing" or "off-side" play which results in that player hitting or impacting the boards is "boarding" and must be penalized as such. In other instances where there is no contact with the boards, it should be treated as "charging."

Rule 48 - Illegal Check to the Head 48.1 Illegal Check To The Head – A hit resulting in contact with an opponent's head where the head is targeted and the principal point of contact is not permitted. However, in determining whether such a hit should have been permitted, the circumstances of the hit, including whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit or the head contact on an otherwise legal body check was unavoidable, can be considered.

48.2 Minor Penalty – For violation of this rule, a minor penalty shall be assessed.

48.3 Major Penalty – There is no provision for a major penalty for this rule.

48.4 Game Misconduct – There is no provision for a game misconduct for this rule.

48.5 Match Penalty – The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a match penalty if, in his judgment, the player attempted to or deliberately injured his opponent with an illegal check to the head.

If deemed appropriate, supplementary discipline can be applied by the Commissioner at his discretion.